Chapter 255: Quite the Weight…

Chapter 255: Quite the Weight…

Loris’s power possessed devastating force. After she thoroughly swept the area, even Dan Marina couldn’t trace any clues there. The extra hints those traces might have held were all destroyed. As for the residual power left behind, it was Loris’s own. With deliberate cleansing, those lingering power signatures dispersed without a trace.

Back at the Underground Base, Zheng Yichen immediately began analyzing the two most special materials Dan Marina had provided: the Evil God Essence. He examined this black sludge in great detail, spending nearly a week conducting various experimental tests. He finally managed to grasp a portion of its characteristics.

To put it in a unique way, this substance directly influenced genes. The difference was, due to its inherent properties, any effect it created could be reversed and restored. What was even more absurd was that its influence wasn’t limited to living beings… Hmm, for other things, the effect was less intense. At most, it could change an object’s shape while keeping its original mass, but achieving this required deep fusion of the black sludge and the material.

Once fused, it lost its ability to affect living things. By then, the black sludge transformed into something else, an annex bonded to the other material. Even so, it was utterly awesome!

After figuring out this characteristic and confirming that fusion caused it to lose many properties, Zheng Yichen set aside the blob of black sludge. He calculated that even if he used it to create clothing and other accessories, nearly half the sludge would remain. He wondered if Dan Marina had done this on purpose… or just meant it as a precaution, worried he might not have enough material?

He shook his head. He wasn’t exactly losing out. Keeping it was fine. Maybe it could be reused later. Then came the Flesh Stone. He hadn’t known how strange it was until he tested it. It was absurd, even unbelievable. The Life Force it naturally generated could actually affect dead objects. It imparted vitality and an evolutionary characteristic to materials that were normally inert. Glancing at the temporarily sealed Evil God Essence, then back at the Flesh Stone in his hand, Zheng Yichen realized that after processing with both, the resulting Alchemical Avatar… no, could it even be called just an avatar? It practically felt like creating life.

Hmm, maybe that wasn’t quite right. Perhaps, an alchemical avatar made under such conditions was truly perfect? Similarly, the powerful properties of the Flesh Stone meant Zheng Yichen could utilize it everywhere. Even after maximizing its use, enough would remain that he guessed nearly two-thirds was left untapped. Its effects were simply stronger than the Evil God Essence.

“My God, could that woman actually have fallen for me?” Zheng Yichen tapped his dragon head and muttered under his breath. Researching these two incredibly cheat-like materials took over ten days. Once he’d unlocked their properties, crafting the Alchemical Avatar became much easier. Even so, the novelty and uniqueness of the materials forced him to completely redesign the Avatar’s blueprint.

The Flesh Stone’s vitality-imparting characteristic meant the original Alchemy Avatar design was unusable. Careless internal structuring wouldn’t enhance the Avatar; it would become a burden. He needed a brand-new design that avoided this and maximized the potential of the vitality.

This vitalizing effect exerted a slow, long-term influence on the treated materials. Zheng Yichen even suspected that blending a pinch of Flesh Stone powder into an ordinary rock could, over a century, cause it to develop a spirit – turning it into a stone Giant or stone beast, some kind of Elemental Being. That was the Flesh Stone’s evolutionary trait in play.

So, the original framework wouldn’t work if the Avatar truly evolved living characteristics. This was especially crucial since Zheng Yichen integrated over a third of the total Flesh Stone mass into the Avatar, not just a tiny bit. In conclusion, that Flesh Stone was truly amazing. Worthy of a substance capable of generating Life Force naturally, its effects were explosively potent.

“Hmm, the structure can be more human-like. Though, I can simplify some redundant internal areas. Even if it becomes over-vitalized later, it won’t be fatal. The vitalized material possesses extraordinarily special self-healing and regeneration,” he thought. “But creating something overly complex risks temporary malfunctions if damaged… Er, the most critical female features… tsk, ignore that. The vitalizing/evolutionary traits will naturally handle form. If she grows breasts, fine. If not, I don’t care.”

Zheng Yichen muttered to himself, continuously refining the sketch in his hands. Beside him lay numerous crumpled balls of rejected design paper. A Ghost Maid dusting nearby overheard his muttering and cast him a very strange look. Zheng Yichen was too absorbed in his state of intense focus to notice.

Meanwhile, several playful Ghostly Little Maids mischievously uncrumpled the discarded papers, clearly revealing the faulty structural sketches on them. Given the nature of detailed alchemy avatar design, Zheng Yichen prioritized efficiency and didn’t draw concealing clothing over the forms. The initial skeletal frames weren’t obvious, but as the diagrams filled out more details, particularly some partial views…

To those with exotic tastes, getting an artist to color them could potentially turn them into something quite explicit.

The Ghost Maid tidying up saw them and quietly “Tsked,” rapping the heads of the Little Maids. She scooped up the flattened papers, rolled them tightly again, and under the watchful eyes of the head-rubbing Little Maids, gave a soft snap of her fingers. The stack of discarded sketches silently disintegrated into dust.

Lady Loris had issued explicit instructions: all Zheng Yichen’s discarded design papers must be destroyed like this. Keeping them posed risks. Who knew what trouble could arise in the future? To prevent any accidental leaks, destruction was simply safer. Anything truly important Zheng Yichen never casually threw away; he stored it directly in his Personal Space.

After disposing of the paper scraps, the Ghost Maid dusted her hands. She glanced at the several Ghostly Little Maids; in her eyes flashed a hint of the same longing theirs held. Though accustomed to their wraithly existence – able to touch solid objects at will, pass seamlessly through walls – their minds remained wholly human. Who among them didn’t secretly yearn to experience just one more moment as a living being?

None of the Ghost Maids had died natural deaths… especially those Ghostly Little Maids.

The Ghost Maids maintained the base in shifts. They also constantly exchanged news during downtime. Hence, every Ghost Maid was fully updated on Zheng Yichen’s progress refining his Alchemical Avatars. Perhaps soon, their ‘Master Dragon’ would succeed in creating an avatar truly akin to a living person – not like the current versions that felt hollow, only grasping objects through Mana awareness.

During private chats, many Ghost Maids expressed a desire to re-experience the feeling of being alive, however artificial it might be. Their current state allowed effortless communication among themselves as “dead,” but crucial barriers remained between the deceased and the living. Communication itself, for instance…

Hmm, the idea that powerful wraiths could simply regain the power of speech? That didn’t seem to be a rule in this world. The voices of the dead manifested as Death Tongues. Whatever they spoke transformed, inaccessible to the living. Attempting to pierce this barrier never resulted in “voice”; it triggered effects like “Banshee’s Wail” or “Call of the Departed,” sonic assaults lethal to life itself.

Audible voices from the dead inherently carried destructive power targeting life, attacking the Soul, not the physical form. Due largely to this barrier, truly audible wraiths were extraordinarily rare. Among their troupe, only two Ghost Maids possessed the ability to “voice.” Even if a living being could endure the malevolent Death energies carried by the sound, all they perceived was a harrowing shriek. Conversely, other wraiths heard perfectly normal speech. Zheng Yichen had once offered some explanation… something about the vocal frequencies of the dead differing from the living? What else had he said? The Ghost Maid struggled to recall. It involved concepts she hadn’t understood in life! Simply put, could a wraith somehow align its vocal ‘frequency’ with that of the living? If achievable, meaningful communication might at last become reality. Even if their voices remained laden with deadly wraith energies, they would cease emitting physically torturous screeches.

“Hmm, the first draft will do for now. I’ll modify it later if I think of something else.” Zheng Yichen examined the design sketch gradually nearing completion on the paper. He made a second, much clearer and more precise copy, setting this blueprint aside. For critical, time-consuming projects, he always maintained this habit: after settling on a design he deemed perfect at that moment, he’d let it rest. Often, after a night’s sleep, unexpected inspiration struck!

Next came clothing design. He pondered briefly. Did attire really need complex design? Rubbing his dragon chin, Zheng Yichen mulled it over. After all, the clothes would be crafted from these special materials too, incorporating the Flesh Stone. Combined with the Evil God Essence’s transformative properties, the garment could shift effortlessly into countless forms. Truly elaborate design simply wasn’t needed. All that mattered was sufficiently incorporating the materials to enable smooth, large-scale shifts.

Styles like overly ornate ball gowns or even more exaggerated outfits? Zheng Yichen felt like questioning the sanity of those who conceptualized such impractical clothing!

“Got it. The default form will be a bodysuit. Efficient. Simple. Pure, no fuss!” He gave a decisive nod. Zheng Yichen casually jotted down basic data for the Avatar’s starting appearance and necessary features on the sketchpad. Since it was a bodysuit, elasticity was essential. Stretchability too. Thin? That required excessive material. Skip it. Thicker fabric was acceptable. Extraordinary materials meant superior performance regardless. Slight thickness would deliver outstanding resilience and unrivalled transformative capability.

He did a quick calculation. The designed bodysuit weighed… roughly nine kilos!

This outcome made Zheng Yichen’s scaly face twitch. Holy hell! This was a bodysuit, not body armor! The calculated figure left him momentarily speechless. Alchemical Avatars were generally heavy. Yet, this was the optimized outcome for maximum garment transformability. Potential future evolution caused by the Flesh Stone’s life-force infusion might enhance shifting capacity. But that lay ahead. For now, Zheng Yichen demanded peak performance in its starting form.

He refused to compromise, creating a flawed product merely to meet an arbitrary weight limit.

Upon reflection, he reasoned: the materials used were top-tier. The resulting Avatar would possess foundational physical strength capable of casually smashing boulders barehanded. Nine kilos for its clothing shouldn’t present any problem… right? Higher quality typically came with greater mass… An unavoidable outcome, he ultimately conceded. Dan Marina likely wouldn’t mind the Avatar’s added weight. Besides, who possessed the sheer audacity to attempt weighing her Alchemy Avatar?

Mentally recalculating the total Avatar package – Avatar plus bodysuit – Zheng Yichen estimated it would tip the scales between one hundred fifty and one hundred eighty kilos… Cough, quite substantial. But it was all for peak performance… right?

In short, this was what he settled on!

Rubbing his aching dragon temples, Zheng Yichen glanced back. Something had felt off – like multiple pairs of eyes silently boring into him earlier. Too engrossed then to care. Now free, taking a closer look revealed his Avatar Blueprint resting unattended… swarmed by curious onlookers. The chief spectators? The Ghostly Little Maids!

“Shoo! Shoo! Children shouldn’t be looking at this!” Zheng Yichen abruptly rolled the blueprint, stuffing it into his Personal Space. He shooed them away with his claw.

One Ghostly Little Maid rolled her eyes dramatically. She made swift, sharp hand gestures Zheng Yichen understood instantly: Don’t call us little! Any single one of us here is older than you!

“Older?” Zheng Yichen reflexively glanced towards the Little Maid’s uniform skirt. He immediately gave his scaly head several sharp raps. Bad thoughts, bad thoughts! Get those filthy ideas out! Shaking his head vigorously back and forth, Zheng Yichen scratched his jaw in thought. “Older”… Hmph. Forget it. He decided to take advantage of the sudden free time to design the Avatar’s primary weapon too. Since Dan Marina demonstrated such… generous “sincerity,” miserliness on his part felt unjustified. Maximize every resource possible for the project.

Should the woman ever really stab him in the back later, he could at least glare back guilt-free… not weighed down by conscience!

He immediately busied himself sketching possible weapon forms on another sheet. The challenge lay in maximizing the remaining materials…